Warriors-Spurs Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSONPosted Mar 19 2013 11:32PM

Even without Tony Parker, the San Antonio Spurs have maintained a slight edge at the top of the Western Conference standings. But that could be in jeopardy if the Spurs don't shore up their defense, which has been uncharacteristically poor in recent games.

San Antonio's home dominance against the Golden State Warriors also may be in danger of ending.

The Spurs will try to beat the Warriors for the 29th straight time in San Antonio on Wednesday night.

San Antonio (51-16) has managed to stay afloat without Parker, remaining in first place and going 5-2 since he suffered a left ankle sprain. Still, with the playoffs a month away, the team is looking to improve what has been less-than-stellar defense of late.

The Spurs beat Cleveland 119-113 at home Saturday, but let the Kyrie Irving-less Cavaliers shoot 50.6 percent. San Antonio, which is allowing 96.5 points per game this season, has yielded 107 or more in three of its last five games, with those five opponents shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range.

Coach Gregg Popovich, who was ejected in the first half Saturday after receiving two technical fouls, said he's "concerned and disappointed" by the trend.

"We know we can do it," Manu Ginobili said of the Spurs playing better defense. "Golden State's a great test because they have a lot of scorers, they move the ball well. It's going to be a good defensive test for us."

The Spurs haven't seen a significant drop-off offensively, with Tim Duncan increasing his production in the last two games. Duncan, who is averaging 17.1 points and 9.8 rebounds on the season, has totaled 58 and 31 in a pair of wins, including a 92-91 victory over Dallas last week.

He may need to continue to carry a heavier load. Parker returned to practice Tuesday, but it's unclear when he'll be ready for game action.

The Warriors (39-30) have returned to form, winning four of five following a 5-12 stretch. They're coming off the franchise's first-ever back-to-back road wins by 20 points or more, and defense wasn't a problem at all as they limited Houston and New Orleans to an average of 75.0 points on 33.1 percent shooting.

"We're a good team," Stephen Curry said. "We're focused on a mission and we never lost confidence in the down part of the year that we had the last couple months. We feel like when we're on top of our game and locked in and everybody's healthy and ready to go, we're a team to be reckoned with and match up with anybody."

Curry has totaled 59 points in the first two games of this trip and is averaging 34.3 on 54.2 percent shooting in his last six on the road.

Golden State ended a 16-game overall losing streak against the Spurs with a 107-101 overtime win at home Feb. 22. Jarrett Jack, who is averaging 25.8 points and 8.5 assists in his last four games versus San Antonio, scored a season-high 30 while David Lee added 25 points and 22 rebounds.

Jack had 20 points and 10 assists while starting in place of an injured Curry in a 95-88 loss at San Antonio on Jan. 18. The Warriors' last road win against the Spurs was on Feb. 14, 1997, when their leading scorer was Latrell Sprewell and Duncan was playing at Wake Forest.

It's the longest active road drought for any NBA team against another.

"We don't really pay attention to those stats because every year is different, every team is different," Parker said after the January matchup. "Golden State is for real. They are a really, really good team. It's going to be tough against them."

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Duncan leads Spurs past Warriors 104-93

Posted Mar 21 2013 12:24AM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs just keep winning, especially when they face the Golden State Warriors at home.

Tim Duncan had 25 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks, and San Antonio beat Golden State 104-93 on Wednesday night for its 29th straight home win against the Warriors.

Golden State has not won in San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1997, the season before Duncan was selected No. 1 overall by the Spurs.

Duncan was 11 for 17 from the field and 3 for 3 at the line. It was his 13th game of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season.

"Timmy has his rhythm back," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's in great shape and down the stretch we went through him. Manu and Timmy really decided to do that on their won and they did a great job of it."

The Spurs needed Duncan to step up with All-Star point guard Tony Parker (sprained left ankle) still about a week away from rejoining the team, and the 16-year veteran is averaging 27.7 points, 14.7 rebounds and 3.3 rebounds in his last three games - all home victories.

"Unbelievable; he's just unbelievable," Splitter said. "He's just figuring out how to play great at his age. It's not easy, he's not same guy like 10 years ago. He doesn't have the same quickness, but he still knows how to play this game."

Duncan also set the tone defensively.

Golden State (first) and San Antonio (fourth) are among the top five in 3-point percentage, but neither team connected from long range until Ginobili knocked down his second attempt with 10:30 left in the first half.

It was part of a greater emphasis on defense by the Spurs, who struggled in a 119-116 victory against Cleveland on Saturday.

"Focus more than anything," Duncan said. "We've been playing hard. We just kind of get out of whack every once in a while kind of as the season goes along. It's a long season. People lose focus for a little while. It's good to go through a stretch like that to get a team refocused; to get guys individually refocused. I think we've done that."

San Antonio still had some defensive lapses. Golden State went on a 10-1 run after De Colo's 17-foot jumper gave the Spurs a 91-78 lead with 8 minutes remaining. But that's when Duncan had his late run.

"Tim made plays and that is what he does," Curry said. "We got back into it and had a chance to win at the end. If I would have made that second to last 3 I took, that would have changed the game."

Curry missed a 3 pointer with 3 minutes left and Duncan followed with his 16-foot jumper that gave San Antonio a 96-88 lead.

San Antonio outscored Golden State 38-25 in the second quarter, going 6 for 11 on 3s after missing all four attempts in the opening period. Matt Bonner and Danny Green hit back-to-back 3s late in the second quarter as San Antonio led 60-47 at halftime.

De Colo had one of the highlights in the first half when he stripped Jack at midcourt and sprinted to the basket for a dunk, prompting Duncan to leap from his seat and shout "atta boy."

"I thought he was a really physical player tonight," Popovich said. "He showed a penchant to stick his nose in and played physically. He was very good in that regard and that's what we've been wanting to see from him.

"He's a smart player, we already know that, but he's got to be able to bang and hit and keep up with a physical game like it was tonight -the way it's going to be in the playoffs."

NOTES: Parker participated fully in San Antonio's practice Tuesday, but Popovich said he was still about a week away from rejoining the team. ... All but three of San Antonio's 14 remaining games are against teams with a winning record. ... Warriors F Richard Jefferson, who played two seasons with the Spurs, was booed when he entered the game late in the first quarter. ... Duncan was assessed a technical foul with 6:59 left for arguing a foul called against De Colo. It was Duncan's first technical foul since April 15, 2007, against the Dallas Mavericks.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Spurs 104, Warriors 93

THE FACTS: Tim Duncan had his third straight high-production game, this time scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 104-93 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at AT&T Center. It's the 29th consecutive victory for the Spurs over the Warriors in San Antonio.

More importantly, the Spurs (52-16) opened a 2 ½-game lead over Oklahoma City for the top seed in the West. The Spurs also have the tiebreaker thus far. The Thunder lost in overtime Wednesday at Memphis.

Duncan's last three games -- all wins without the injured Tony Parker in the lineup -- have gone for 28 points, 30 points and the 25 from Wednesday. The Spurs could get Parker back Friday after he missed the past eight games with an ankle sprain (the Spurs are 6-2 without him).

The Warriors (39-31) had won four of five coming in and had a franchise first of winning consecutive road games by 20 points or more (they had allowed just 75 points per game and 33-percent shooting in Houston and New Orleans).

Stephen Curry led Golden State with 24 points, and he hit half of his eight 3-pointers.

QUOTABLE: "[Duncan] is just unbelievable. He's figuring out how to play great at his age. It's not easy. He's not the same guy he was 10 years ago."-- Spurs' Tiago Splitter

THE STAT: The Warriors were burned by their own hand tonight -- they committed 17 turnovers and were doubled up in points off turnovers 26-13. It got particularly messy for them in the fourth quarter when they turned the ball over fives times and the Spurs scored eight points off those mistakes.

TURNING POINT: After Golden State trimmed a 13-point San Antonio lead to four with 3 ½ minutes to go on a pair of free throws by Curry, the Spurs outscored the Warriors 12-3 over the next 2 ½ minutes to put the game away. Duncan scored half of those points, had a pair of rebounds (including one on offense that extended a possession) and had an assist when the defense collapsed down on him on a clear out (he kicked out to Manu Ginobili for a 3-pointer).

QUOTABLE II: "[Duncan] shows that he still has it and you have to prepare for him every night. At this point there is no surprise with him. He is professional and one of the best, if not the best." -- Stephen Curry

HOT: Duncan was 11-for-17 from the floor tonight and has gone 36-for-56 in the past three games (64 percent).

NOT: Golden State's big men of David Lee and Andrew Bogut went a combined 6-for-26.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Duncan is making a final flourish in the stat sheet before Parker comes back. Over the past three games he has averaged 27.6 points, 14.3 rebounds and more than three blocks. Wednesday, he threw in six assists.

GOOD MOVE: In their last game against Cleveland, the Spurs trailed by one with 5 ½ minutes to go and they gave the ball to Duncan. He responded with six points in five minutes and the Spurs won. It worked again tonight as San Antonio dropped the ball down low to Duncan, who scored six points in roughly a couple of minutes to put the game away.

BAD MOVE: The Warriors depended a lot on Lee, but he couldn't work out of the tight defense applied by the Spurs. He shot 4-for-17 and got isolated on Duncan with the defensive assignment late in the game.

ROOKIE WATCH:Nando De Colo had another productive night for the Spurs. The product of France went 5-for-6 from the floor for 10 points. He was 4-for-6 in his last game against the Cavaliers, scoring 11 points in that one.

NOTABLE: The last win in San Antonio for Golden State came in Feb. 1997, and that's the longest shutout currently for any team in the league. ... Duncan's 13 rebounds put him two away from Shaquille O'Neal and 13th place on the all-time rebounding list (13,099 rebounds). ... The Spurs win leaves coach Gregg Popovich one short of career win No. 900. He'd be the second coach to reach that mark while coaching his entire career with one team (Jerry Sloan, Utah). ... Jarrett Jack had come into this game after scoring 25.8 points and handing out 8.5 assist in his last four vs. San Antonio. Wednesday, the Spurs "contained" him with 14 points and seven assists in 31 minutes.